[alfred123]

So I am on the fence weather to upgrade my PT to include auto boom height and sectional control or trade it on a HC. I have a limited budget but the following machines have caught my eye.

Rogators - Lots around heres a few I am intested in. I see the 1200gal models sell cheaper than the 1000 gal models why is this? I would assume the bigger tank and air ride to be a price premium

1254 - 4600hrs 90ft booms no gps or any technology only skinny tires $38,850 air ride

1074 - 3400hrs GPS skinny tires only 100ft booms $124,500 spring ride

1274 - 3200hrs viper pro gps so likely sectional control also 100ft booms skinny tires only $109,500 air ride

Miller Nitro - Like front boom idea but rare machine in our area so worried about parts

200HT - 90ft booms gps auto steer but no SCT or boom height but both sets of tires $88,000 only front axle suspension

Apache - More of a farmer machine however lots around and new ones are not off the map for pricing compared to others (new 720 is $225,000) used ones range from $50-$200k I wont list all the models there is lots for sale I would likely stay with a 1010 or newer model they have the better booms and axle I understand.

I am buying this sprayer for my own 2300ac farm and will do some custom work with it. I want to know if there is good or bad in the sprayers mentioned and which ones would be a good fit for me. I am leaning towards the nitro followed by the Rogators as they are more of a commercially built machine. Higher hours don't necessarily scare me as we do all our own repairs however I hear stories of some having crazy expensive wheel motor s and such though I assume rebuilding these parts would be a lot cheaper than replacing. Anyone with these machines please share your knowledge.

Thanks

Alistair

 

[Andrew_D]

We ran RoGator's for around 20 years. (Traded to a JD4830 for 2013.) They are excellent machines. Last couple we had were 854's.

We did a couple wheel motors, but CanPro always had one in stock and had us going the same day.

Another issue we had was the air system that controls the boom shutoffs. If the machine has/had a foam marker, the check valves that are suppose to keep the foam out of the air system would fail and foam would get in to the air tanks, dryer, lines, etc. We finally put a manual shut off valve on the air line to the foam tank. Not so much of an issue today, but some still use foam.... On our last 854, we re-did most of the air system in the last 3 years - new compressor, dryer, electric over air valves and boom air shut-offs.

Andrew

 

[SWFarmService]

Just a suggestion would be a walker 44, they were about bomb proof and parts were basic off the shelf stuff, my father inlaw ran one to 8500hrs with almost no problems with a if it starts it will spray maintenance program, they sell for about 50,000 for a pretty good one, and you would get the front booms and high clearance, I keep looking back thinking I should have just got one of them and modded it out with larger booms and newer controls.

 

[mark 1056]

ive have run an 854 over 40 000 acs that incuded custom work great sprayer it was a 95 unit with cummins 5 9 in it great engine never had massive issues in the wet year i put duals on the rear dam near walk on water in 2010 an d 11 i put on 800 hours per season on it it was nuts in 2012 i upgraded to a rg 900 also great sprayer my hours cut to just shy of 500 hours due to faster spraying speeds and bigger boom

i dont know if your intreasted i know of a 1254 for sale 2001 i think ? the work i know its had done in the last 3 years uy canpro
new wheel on the rear new hydro engine fully engine rebuild in 2012 i think it was
most of the wheel motor work and hydro work was done efore he brought it it go outack gps shut off auto boom etc since he has had it totaly babyed the sprayer last summer to prep it for sale they where cleaning it with a tooth brush thats how anal they are it has crop dividers skinnys wides etc only for sale due to sold the farm

if want more info email me on here if you like i will give you my idea of value on it ive driven it drives fine

 

[Licensed to kill]

Upgrade your PT.

 

[Stoney Hill]

We ran RoGator's for around 20 years. (Traded to a JD4830 for 2013.) They are excellent machines. Last couple we had were 854's.

We did a couple wheel motors, but CanPro always had one in stock and had us going the same day.

Andrew, I've heard rumours that these wheel motors are like 8g, do you remember what the ballpark price was on one of them?

 

[ty1500]

we had a 1996 rogator for 4 years and it was a very good sprayer very little issues, then we upgraded it to a 2000 1254 rogator and we have been running it for about 5 years now and it now has 4700hrs and been a very good unit also, really like the 1200 gallon tank, we were thinking bout upgrading it in the next couple years and i dont think we would buy another sprayer without a 1200 gal tank...unless if its the right price ofcourse

 

[SK Farmer]

we ran a 2005 Rogator 1074 until last year and traded it in on a new rg1100. we really liked the 1074 only complaint was the cab noise was a little on the noisy side, but the rest of the unit was good it had all the options GPS, auto boom height, auto sectional control, smart trax, and about 2200 hours on when we traded it in to White Ag outta Yorkton I think they still had when they shut down don't know what's happened to it since.

 

[Andrew_D]

Andrew, I've heard rumours that these wheel motors are like 8g, do you remember what the ballpark price was on one of them?

Off the top of my head, I was going to say closer to $5k installed.

Andrew

 

[mark 1056]

Off the top of my head, I was going to say closer to $5k installed.

Andrew

thats about right i know the newer the sprayer got the cheeper they where my 95 gator if one was going to be needed for rear would have been 7 k
everyone worrys about wheel motors on a goator but case jd is no cheeper with the other syle a buddie had a 3185 wheel hub go that was 5 k all said and done so no differance

 

[alfred123]

So guys on here prefer the gater to the nitro?? none of the gaters have floater tires which can add twenty grand to the price where as the nitro has both sets of tires. I also like the front boom design of it.

 

[alfred123]

Upgrade your PT.

How come you think I should keep my PT? in the fall the two tractors with gps that can run sprayer run the cart and the baler if we had a SP we could get some spraying done in the mornings or if we had a spare person to spray also some custom acres would help make the pmt however being a custom applicator your thinking buying my own sp is a bad move?

 

[mark 1056]

How come you think I should keep my PT? in the fall the two tractors with gps that can run sprayer run the cart and the baler if we had a SP we could get some spraying done in the mornings or if we had a spare person to spray also some custom acres would help make the pmt however being a custom applicator your thinking buying my own sp is a bad move?

that what i did was brought a sp and did few acs of custom it took off with custom like **** but cam e as busy as you like

that 1254 i know of has floats i think you could get that sprayer i know of for a good price

 

[dougpettman]

As you get older your body will appreciate the front boom.It a lot easier on the neck and shoulders.Most parts on a Miller are not hard to source.Booms and pins are easy to replace pins in when worn.The mono beam has a lot less areas to crack.

 

[alfred123]

Doug i am thinking the same front boom would be nice how is the ride in the 200ht models? Heard they are a bit underpowered but thats easy to fix .....

 

[mark 1056]

apart from headland why else do you need to look back now a days with auto boom set um and go odd checlk on nozzels apart from that i never look back but with good filtering i rarly get nozzel issues

 

[peterbilt]

I quite like our NH 365, I have a friend with an older Miller he's quite happy with and a buddy with an 854 he likes. I'd say it's whatever you get the best deal on you will enjoy both either way. Personally I like having the front boom and would have a hard time going to a rear boom again, it's just nice to see what's going on I find. I suppose either your looking at will have the same cab so not much different there.

 

[Ben Heide]

So guys on here prefer the gater to the nitro?? none of the gaters have floater tires which can add twenty grand to the price where as the nitro has both sets of tires. I also like the front boom design of it.

Depending on the sprayer, I have a set of floaters that may fit (Rogator). PM me if you like.
OR if these are list machines at CanPro, they have always been good about getting you what you need reasonably when working on the deal. When we bought our 854 in '04 we were promised a set of skinnies and floaters. It had the skinnies on and when it came time to deliver, on the back of the trailer was a brand new set of floaters, rims and all. We had made the deal including a set of used tires, but I guess they had gone missing somewhere. Didn't cost us anything extra. I don't know what they'll be like to work with now that they have a different ownership structure.

How come you think I should keep my PT? in the fall the two tractors with gps that can run sprayer run the cart and the baler if we had a SP we could get some spraying done in the mornings or if we had a spare person to spray also some custom acres would help make the pmt however being a custom applicator your thinking buying my own sp is a bad move?

If you can swing it, buy a good used SP for yourself that has life left in it. Then pick up custom work as you want, custom spray operators often get left with the dumb stuff, the pieces no one else wants to do.

 

[alfred123]

Ben I haven't talked to Canpro yet I intend to tomorrow the units so far I have looked at have been at Corner Equipment, Mazers and Kramer in Regina. I will call Canpro and find out what they have to offer I dislike that they don't have prices of there units online. I want to buy something affordable that isn't a lemon I don't mind running older stuff as we are quite mechanically handy. I know sometimes custom work involves the junk nobody else wants but that's the nature of the beast we custom seed about 3500 acres a year custom hay 2000 acres and custom combine around 1500 acres so spraying will be a good fit that could progress into lots of work. There is a shift into more and more medium sized farmers getting more into fungicides and desiccation in our area also a few large farms that have more acres than there machine can handle its not the custom work of the 90s where you had even the largest farms with wide open fields and big acres in one block but I think there is still some decent work out there the co op lost there rig a few years ago as they couldn't keep operators so he already is bugging me to get a sp rig as he feels without being able to offer custom ap they are loosing chem sales.

 

[alfred123]

apart from headland why else do you need to look back now a days with auto boom set um and go odd checlk on nozzels apart from that i never look back but with good filtering i rarly get nozzel issues

This is true though not all the listed sprayers have auto boom height though I may add it. I think the front boom would be nice though and they are well balanced an advantage in the mud. The pull type I never had neck issues from looking back then again my 4wd seat swiveled almost a quarter turn I will have to have a closer look at them all